In 2017, my aspiration is to continually focus on positively influencing my health since the way I lost weight wasn't particularly recommended. The end of 2016 saw me gain back 10 pounds and brutally ravage my knees, so I'm going to be overhauling my health and wellness to maintain my weight loss without killing my body. This will be the first in a series of health-related posts, and I have created a new blog label to indicate that.
Anyway, I'm still a big advocate of exercise, and I've been thinking a lot about the benefits of exercise beyond being obviously good for your physical health. I hope these extra benefits encourage you to regularly exercise in 2017 to promote your own health and wellness. Without further ado, let's get into it!
1. It helps establish a regular schedule. I exercise pretty much at the same time every day: either directly before work or directly after work. In either case, I have my daily schedule pretty well fixated around exercise and work. It might not seem like a big deal, but it really, really is. One big reason is that it helps to tamp down decision fatigue, which I talked about in another recent post. (Find it here.) And speaking of schedules, it also helps regulate another specific kind of schedule...
2. It helps you sleep better. Prior to exercising, I had a really awful time trying to sleep. I'd either have a heck of a time falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night frequently. Studies have shown that sleep and exercise are directed correlated, specifically noting that exercise positively influences a healthy sleep pattern. (Read more about this at sleep.org.) I can personally attest that this is definitely true. I sleep so much better these days, even with having a newborn baby girl!
3. You can multitask to foster learning. I'm not a big advocate of multitasking in most situations, but exercise is one exception to this rule. You can do a number of different things depending on the exercise you're doing. I listen to podcasts while lifting weights, watch YouTube videos / TED talks on the elliptical, and read on the exercise bike. It's an excellent use of your time.
4. Exercise boosts brain power. Almost all my blog posts are thought about while exercising and written immediately following a workout. I'm not fully aware of all the science behind it, but studies have shown that exercise increases your cognitive abilities. (Here's an article that explains it more.) This is why I like to work out before work: I feel refreshed and ready to begin each day bright and early.
5. It provides you with a regular sense of accomplishment. This one I garnered from a piece I recently read in Tim Ferriss's newest book Tools of Titans. In an interview with four-star general Stanley McChrystal, McChrystal had this to say about exercise: "I find that if a day is terrible, but I worked out, at the end of the day I'll go, 'Well, I had a good workout,' almost no matter what happens." This is an excellent point that I had not thought about before, but it's so true. Know that if it feels like you checked nothing off your to-do list on a given day, at least you checked off that exercise box.
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